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With the 1st overall pick in the 2012 entry draft, the Toronto Maple Leafs select, from the Sarnia Sting, Nail Yakupov.

I've been fortunate enough to watch Nail play all season. He is unreal. I would rather build an OHL team around him than around Stamkos. He plays hard at both ends of the rink. He has an off ice work ethic like no other. He's still learning English, but that won't be a problem. This kid is a human highlight real. I got a picture of him and my son yesterday (It was skate with the Sting after the game) and I hope to get it autographed.

Kadri’s actually managed to go about his business and concentrate on his development as a professional player without the distraction of some clown with a microphone attempting to pick his brain after every morning skate.

And according to those in the know — Leafs GM Brian Burke and Marlies head coach Dallas Eakins in particular — Kadri has taken some real steps in improving the part of his game that needed work, that is his tendency to turn the puck over and make ill-timed passes in his own end and the neutral zone. And, he’s apparently managing to do that without stifling the offensive part of his game — his strength, if you will

“Obviously I want to be in the NHL more than anyone, but I understand you have to pay your dues. Right now I’m not really worried about that,” Kadri said on Tuesday, following a Marlies practice at Ricoh Coliseum. “I’m playing well, things are going for me, I’ve got a lot of confidence here with the coaching staff and Dallas has been putting me in situations where I can be much more responsible. So I think it’s helped me on the long run and hopefully it’s only a matter of time before I’m up at the big club.”

“I don’t have a weak mind like that,” insisted the London, Ont., native, when asked if his time in the minors has taken an emotional toll. “I don’t let little things like this bother me. If I did — playing in Toronto — I’d be in trouble.

“I could be in a much worse spot right now,” he added. “I can think of a million people who’d love to be in my situation right now, so what do I have to worry about? I just have to keep developing as a hockey player and just keep getting better and hopefully get upgraded soon.”

Eakins is not about to erect a statue to Kadri outside Exhibition Place but generally offered praise in sizing up the young forward’s development this season — especially in terms of his Achilles heel, his defensive lapses. And once Kadri gets that figured out, said the personable Eakins, he’ll be a valuable player for the Leafs (if they don’t trade him first).

“There’s no reason this guy can’t be on your top two lines (in the NHL),” said Eakins. “And that’s where he has to play. He’s not going to play on your fourth line. He’s not built to do that, and he doesn’t have the make-up of a third-line centre, either. His brain thinks offensively, and that’s his strength and that’s why he was drafted No.7. And we don’t want to take away his strength, we just want to add another couple of pieces to the puzzle to make him more complete.”

One thing Kadri hasn’t lost during his time in the AHL is his confidence. He’s still convinced that he can be an elite player with the Leafs.

“Absolutely. There’s no doubt in my mind that I can be a dominate player in the NHL. I definitely have all the tools and assets,” he said. “Maybe I was a little rough around the edges to start, but I can promise you that everything’s going to pan out in the end. And hopefully it’s soon.”

For his part, Eakins doesn’t see anything wrong with a young player such as Kadri, who hasn’t done anything at the NHL level yet, wearing his confidence on his sleeve.

“He’s very confident, borrowing on cocky, which I like,” said Eakins. “And I don’t mean confident like being a d--khead to the fans or the media or being disrespectful to somebody in a restaurant, I don’t mean cocky that way. But I think every professional athlete better have a little something in you, especially when you walk on that ice. And he’s got it.”

Eakins said the world will not end if Kadri sticks around the Marlies a while longer.

“He’s still a boy,” said Eakins. “It’s like when Luke Schenn came in (to the Leafs, 2008). He was already in a man’s body. Whereas Naz is in a normal 20-year-old body. He still has some growth to do. But he’s getting better and that’s the main thing.”

Toronto fans should feel reasonably confident this is a team that can get back into the post-season in the next two years, and with a very, very young team.

James Reimer's stats in goal appear to be the sign of a real goalie, not a flash-in-the-pan. In Dion Phaneuf, Luke Schenn and Keith Aulie, there are three defenceman 25 or younger, all big, all physical. There's a gamebreaker on the wing in Phil Kessel. He's not a complete player, but he can do some things few players can. Most important, perhaps, is the sign of potential depth down the middle, with Mikhail Grabovski and Tyler Bozak in the NHL, and Nazem Kadri and Joe Colborne with the Marlies.

Now there are two first round picks the team can either use or package to get something helpful, either a higher pick or a good young player. The movement of youngsters like James Neal, Erik Johnson, Chris Stewart and Alex Goligoski in recent days suggests that there is a burgeoning market out there of players between the ages of 22-25, which is exactly the age group Brian Burke and Co. are targeting.

Two factors seem to have change the Leaf picture from muddled to promising. First, the development of Reimer. Without goaltending in the NHL, everything else is distorted, and Reimer may be the best youngster in net the Leafs have drafted and developed since Felix Potvin.

Second was the Tomas Kaberle trade. The actual results of that deal won't be known for years, but it positioned the Leafs more dramatically for public consumption as a rebuilding, growth team, with young talent at the NHL level and useful picks on the way. With that trade, so much else of what the Leafs have done makes more sense.

A 7-2-2 run in the last little while isn't as meaningful as the framework that's now in place for a good hockey club somewhere down the road.

Good to hear about Kadri. I said it since day one, leave him the AHL and allow him to develop instead of throwing him to the Wolves in the NHL right away. When he's ready he's ready. Hopefully he'll be ready by next season because he could take over for Kaberle as a PPQB.

solid PP. Kadri has unbelievable vision and a very solid shot. I think Kadri and Kessel should get as much ice time together as possible in training camp. The 2 need to develop some chemistry together. If not, MacArthur and Kessel maybe or Kessel will have to find some chemistry with Grabo, which probably won't happen.

solid PP. Kadri has unbelievable vision and a very solid shot. I think Kadri and Kessel should get as much ice time together as possible in training camp. The 2 need to develop some chemistry together. If not, MacArthur and Kessel maybe or Kessel will have to find some chemistry with Grabo, which probably won't happen.

Kadri's greatest asset IMO is his on-ice vision. It's got elite potential. The guy can see plays ahead of time and find those seams with great passes. I think he'd make a great PPQB. Has he been tried at the AHL level as the QB?